Lakvijaya Power Plant

The Lakvijaya Power Plant is a proposed 900 megawatt coal-fired power station in the Puttalam District of the Northwestern Province in Sri Lanka. It would be Sri Lanka's first coal power plant. The first phase of the plant is to inject 300 MW to the main grid by 2011, with the second phase injecting another 600MW by 2013. In March 2011, it was reported that the first phase of would be opened on March 22, 2011, adding 300 MW of power to the national grid.

Background
The construction work for the 300 MW coal fired thermal power plant with infrastructure for a 900 MW power plant had started in 2006 amid heavy resistance from the Catholic community of the area. The Chinese government thorough the Exim Bank of China has provided US$ 455 million for the Lakvijaya plant. The delivery of the first shipment of 65,500 MT of coal at a cost of US$7 million from Indonesia was expected in the first week of November 2010.

The government is also commencing work on the Sampur power station, a joint venture between the governments of Sri Lanka and India expected to generate 1000 MW to the national grid in two phases. The country is also looking at a mix of energy sources that include hydropower, oil, coal, and liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG would be introduced to the country in 2014.

It was announced in late March 2011 that Sri Lanka’s first coal power plant Lakvijaya, at Norochcholai, in the Puttalam District began Phase One of its operation. Under Phase One of the project, 300 MW, which amounts to 17% of the national power requirement of the country, was be added to the country's National Grid.

Fire
In October 2010, a sudden fire broke out at the plant. According to Ceylon Electricity Board officials, the fire erupted due to the clogging of a chimney that emits waste from the combustion of coal. The fire will not interrupt construction.

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